Shattered and dangerous pavements lining Melita Street, Valletta, will be around for some time, with Transport Malta admitting it has yet to receive even a preliminary go-ahead to redo them.
Despite spending €160,000 to repave the street over the summer, pavements remain in a state of disrepair.
The transport regulator had last October insisted pavements were a “works in progress,”, although the €160,000 tender summary had already allocated €69,712 to “footpath construction and reinstatement works”.
But a Freedom of Information request made to Transport Malta has now forced the regulator to admit it has no paperwork related to Melita Street pavements.
“To date we still have no public documentation to provide on the works on the pavement, since we are still awaiting approvals to carry out these works,” a Transport Malta spokesman said.
The admission means residents, workers and tourists walking through upper Melita Street must continue to risk injury, with no timeframe for the works.
Transport Malta charged this newspaper €20 for the information, telling The Times that sourcing it – together with the name of the contractor responsible for the road paving – Denfar Excavators – had taken its staff “in excess of four man hours”. This is the highest possible first schedule fee an authority can charge under the Freedom of Information Act. Residents, especially elderly ones, are upset at the way the road has been repaved and feel they have been short-changed by the works.
“I was better off before they repaved the road,” said Paul Busuttil, 82. “The incline has gotten steeper and I can’t walk up the broken pavements. I’m trapped inside my own home,” he said.
His wife Doris, 77, was equally upset. “It’s a complete disaster. I went to complain to the council right after they finished paving the road in summer and was promised something would be done. But here we are, and things are still the same. Every time I leave the house I expect to get hit by a car.”
Entrepreneur and lifelong Valletta resident Paul Bonnici, 75, described the pavements as “a disgrace”.
“Why can’t they restore the pavements and even them out, like they did for the stairs on St Ursula Street? The road itself is better than it was – though it’s still not the sort of workmanship you’d expect – but the pavements are an absolute disgrace. People should be held accountable for the work they do.”
Last October, The Times had reported that the freshly-paved road left much to be desired, with uneven, stained slabs lining up alongside dilapidated pavements.
The article was dismissed as “sensationalist” by Transport Malta, which said Melita Street paving looked tired because it was regularly used by vehicles, and claimed pavements were a “works in progress”.
Transport Malta had also declined to reveal the name of the contractor responsible for the repaving works, only passing on the name of Mqabba-based Denfar Excavators Ltd following the Freedom of Information Act request.
Repeated attempts to contact Denfar Ltd proved unsuccessful.